I will start by saying that regardless of what political agenda you affiliate yourself with, put your pride aside for a second, and pick up Tomi Lahren’s book “Never Play Dead.” It’ll go by quick, and I’m sure you’ll learn a thing or two, whether or not you enjoy what you’re reading or the thoughts and opinions weaved throughout.
Many people are familiar with 27-year-old political commentator Lahren because of her fallout with The Blaze, and its following lawsuit. She’s frequently on Fox News, famous for her segment called “Final Thoughts” and cares a whole lot about law enforcement and the protection of the U.S. Constitution at all costs—specifically the freedom of speech and the right to bear arms.
I will mention here right off the bat that the reason I am giving her book a four-star rating, opposed to five, is simply because, though entertaining, it lacks a challenge for the reader to take part in, and she often repeats certain stories and phrases. These aren’t necessarily bad things; they could be her style, but they give off the vibe that this is definitely her first book.
The book is laid out in simple chapter format, which—I’m not sure if this was done intently—allows the reader to jump outside of chronological order to a topic they’d prefer reading at that time. Some of these include “Standing your ground will never fail you,” which I felt is this book in a nutshell, “I don’t want people to think like me, I just want people to think,” which is her instructing the reader to think for themselves regardless if they identify as a liberal or conservative and “You don’t have to be a jerk about it,” which is essentially her pointing out that if one does decide to
debate politics, or anything for the matter, do it without being an
asshole.
Of course those are only the first three chapters out of 10, but when I reached about halfway through, I found that the gist is simply to stand up for yourself and do it in the right way.
The reason I say it’d be smart for even liberals to deal with Lahren’s opinion for a moment is because the idea behind her words speaks to the reader from a human-to-human standpoint, rather than what we’re used to hearing from her: debating the false ideology of that of the left.
A big piece of this book oftentimes felt as though this was her way of sharing her side of the story—both relationship-wise and politics—and providing an explanation, to those who care to hear.
I’ve been a fan of Lahren’s for a while, so I already knew about the lawsuit and her being fired from The Blaze; she stated on The View that she is pro-choice. At first, many assumed she must have mispoke, or perhaps didn’t really know what that meant. But the truth is, she stands firm in limited government toward the moral issue that is abortion. Of course this is the opposite of what conservatives are supposed to stand for, right? But if she argues that it’s on the basis of limited government, some digress.
As far as her life goes outside of politics, I never realized how poor she’s been treated by men in her life. I won’t go into detail, but you almost have to feel bad for her, yet, relate to her. Because of that, it’s clear this book was written for women in particular to enjoy, but I suppose men are not excluded.
I would say that her growth through this book is clearly evident and I wanted to share one specific thing that stood out to me: Glenn Beck, the man behind the media outlet of The Blaze, was the biggest obstacle Lahren faced during one of the most important times of her life. Despite the unimaginable that she went through, she was able to forgive him and acknowledge this forgiveness for him before the book even began. Now that is strong, and it’s in those moments we can put down our political agenda and see each other as human beings.
